These Old Familiar Ties
by LunarCat713
Summary: "Brothers" movie fanfic- shame it doesn't have its own category, it's a great movie. Anyways, this is a one-shot AU of Sam and Tommy's confrontatin in Grace's kitchen.


This is a story I began shortly after seeing the movie for the first few dozens of times, but dropped. As I went back through all of my works-in-progress I decided it still made for a good idea so I'm simply posting the first chapter of the measly two that I wrote.  
I have no idea where I got the title from, it just came to mind. I don't even know if it reflects the story in any way, but oh well.  
And because I used the first chapter, the ending of this is left open so you can decide how you want it to go. I hope you enjoy!

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Grace silently cried as she watched her husband smash the kitchen, flinching at every scream and accusation that came out of his mouth. Her reassurances and pleads fell on deaf ears as Sam continued to destroy the kitchen. The beautiful kitchen Tommy and his friends built. She didn't know what to do, the man she loved seemed beyond her reach now, and it was breaking her heart. She cried harder as Sam started smacking his head, yelling about what he had to do.

Suddenly Tommy was there, stepping through the door. Grace's heart lightened some at his presence, praying that he could get through to his brother. Sam had stopped and quietly asked what he was doing there. Tommy started walking forward with his hands raised up as if he were approaching a frightened animal. Sam retreated with a tiny step, looking unsure for a moment.

Tommy reached Sam and pulled him into a hug. Grace took a deep breath when Sam returned it. Tommy met her eyes over his brother's shoulder, nodding to her that it was alright, that he had this. She nodded her thanks and turned towards the stairs. She wanted to check on her girls, make sure they were alright.

She barely reached the stairs when she heard a commotion from the kitchen. Sam was cursing and Tommy was trying to calm him down. She raced up the stairs, yelling at her girls to get in their room and lock the door. At the top of the stairs, she stood and stared down. She couldn't see anything, but could still make out Sam's angry words towards Tommy, yelling in that same deranged voice he used towards her only moments ago.

Then she heard the sirens. She wasn't sure who called them, maybe Elsie or Hank, but she glanced out the window she could see through the living room and saw the lights flashing in front of her house. She was relieved, but also worried. She loved her husband; she didn't want him to go to jail or to a hospital. She didn't want him to have to. But she knew he needed help. None of this would be happening if he would have stayed, if he wasn't a Marine.

Her thoughts and anguish were broken by the commotion downstairs in the kitchen. It sounded like the two brothers were struggling, she could hear grunting and yelling. Suddenly she jumped when a loud shot echoed through the house. Grace froze, rooted to the spot. She didn't even think her heart was beating. Sam's gun, she had forgotten all about it. She took a step down the stairs, afraid of what might have happened.

"Tommy?"

Grace's heart dropped at Sam's quiet but agonized question. She raced back down the stairs and into the kitchen and froze at what she saw. Sam was cradling Tommy who was slumped on the floor, the gun to the side and forgotten. But she wasn't staring at them; she was staring at the red that was seeping through Tommy's jacket despite its thickness. Her eyes slid from Tommy's side to the two brothers.

Sam was shaking his head with a heartbroken look on his face. "Tommy?" he repeated.

Tommy was grimacing in pain, taking deep breaths. "Sam…"

"Tommy, no. I didn't… No, don't. Tommy!" Tommy's eyes had slid shut. "Tommy!"

BROTHERS

"Tommy!" Sam shouted at his brother, but Tommy didn't open his eyes. Sam shook him a bit with no response. He yelled out for his brother again, and in his mind he saw a seven year old struggling to tread the deep water of a lake. Sam had yelled at the top of his lungs for his brother then, urging him to stay above the water until he could reach him. He yelled for him now, but was afraid Tommy couldn't hear him.

All Sam could see- could think about- was his little brother laying in his arms. He couldn't even bring himself to check if he was dead or not. He didn't want to think that he may have just killed his brother. He couldn't have…

He barely registered the multiple presences pressing in on him until he felt hands gripping his shoulders, trying to pull him away.

"No…" He pulled Tommy closer, not wanting to let go. But more hands joined in, dragging him from his brother. "No! Tommy!"

Cops were surrounding them both, checking on Tommy and trying to stop the blood while calling for an ambulance. The cops who pulled Sam away had him pinned to the ground, yanking his arms behind his back to handcuff him. But all Sam could focus on was his brother lying there so still. He couldn't even tell if he was alive or dead. He yelled out for Tommy again, but the cops began pulling him out of the house.

"Tommy! Tommy!" Sam was forced into a cop car, and was driven away from his brother.

BROTHERS

Grace cried heavily as her husband was led out, yelling for his brother the whole way. She couldn't take her eyes off of Tommy. The blood was now pooling on the kitchen floor, even though the cops were putting pressure on the wound. There was a cop next to her, talking to her, but she wasn't listening. Her world was falling apart. Her husband had lost it, her brother-in-law, the man who was there for her and her girls, was bleeding in her kitchen. And her girls…

She let out a gasp as she turned and ran for the stairs. The police man who was trying to talk to her called out to her but she didn't stop. She reached her daughters' bedroom and called them out, making sure they were alright. They were crying, of course. She could do nothing but hug them up and hold on as tight as she could. She wanted to go back downstairs, be there for Tommy, but her girls needed her and she didn't want them to see their uncle like that.

Another set of sirens approached the house, and she prayed it was the ambulance. The officer had allowed her to stay upstairs with her girls and let the paramedics in.

"Mom, what happened? Who's hurt? Where's Uncle Tommy?!"

Grace looked at Isabelle, unable to answer her, but could tell that her daughter had already figured out what happened. Maggie looked up at her, so full of innocence it broke Grace's heart. They already had to go through losing their father, she didn't want them to go through losing their uncle.

"Mom?!" Isabelle cried, watching the paramedics wheel Tommy outside. The three clung to each other, crying. Grace heard doors slam and the sirens flair up as the ambulance sped off. The police cleared out except for the one who originally tried talking to her. He stood at the base of the stairs a moment before asking her to come down.

"Hank and Elsie have already been informed. Elsie is headed for the hospital, and Hank is on his way here."

Grace nodded, sniffing and gathering herself. She wiped her face before she stood up and grabbed Isabelle and Maggie's hands, leading them down the stairs. She hurried the girls into the living room, positioning them so they weren't facing the kitchen. The man noticed, and assured her someone would be there soon to clean everything up.

Grace sat with her girls on either side of her, trying to fill in a report with the officer when Hank came in. He looked in at the kitchen and stopped in surprise to take in the destruction before looking down and freezing, eyes no doubt on the blood.

BROTHERS

Hank took in the destroyed kitchen, unable to believe that his son was capable of that destruction. A part of him lamented the loss of his youngest son's beautiful kitchen, but once his eyes landed on the blood he knew he had bigger things to worry about.

"Sir?" The officer flagged him into the living room, where Grace and his granddaughters were sitting. He walked to them but didn't sit down.

"I'd like to hurry this, so we can get to the hospital," Hanks said with a matter-of-fact tone.

"Yes, Sir. I just have a few things I need to get from you, and then you can all leave. And we'll get a team in here to get everything cleaned up."

Hank and Grace answered the officer's questions as well as they could, Hank having not been there and Grace being upset. They didn't get very far when the officer must have realized it was a lost cause and informed them someone would be back at a more convenient time to finish up the report and then he left.

The ride to the hospital was an uncomfortable, pressing silence- not even the girls were making noise outside of the occasional sniffle. Hank was never good at showing, or even dealing with, emotion; he usually ignored it. He couldn't ignore what had happened, though, not this. Something had happened to his oldest son in Afghanistan and couldn't cope with it. And as a result his youngest son was now in the hospital, having been shot by his brother.

He couldn't figure out how it went so horribly wrong. He was a Marine himself; he had seen action, lived through it. He'd always instilled a sense of honor and discipline in his sons. Well Sam, at least. Tommy always went and did his own thing, but they both grew up just the same.

Finally after what seemed too long of a ride they arrived at the hospital. Hank allowed Grace and the girls to go in ahead while he found a parking spot. Just as he was getting frustrated at the lack of spots he found one at the far end. He hated hospitals. For every reason, he hated them. He made it inside and found the women and girls sitting in the corner of a waiting room.

"Oh, Hank. The bullet just grazed a major artery. They've got him in surgery now to stop the bleeding." Elsie informed him of the update, holding Maggie on her lap with an arm around Grace who was holding Isabelle. He nodded, unable to say anything and doubting there was much to say.

Grace was silent, not shedding any tears. He figured she was past tears now and wished there was something he could say to make her feel better. He and Elsie shared a look before Elsie passed Maggie to him.

"Grace, do you want some coffee?" She asked, but didn't get a response. Worried, Elsie tried again. "Grace, honey? Grace blinked and turned to her. Elsie smiled gently. "Do you want coffee?" A pause, and then Grace started to shake her head before changing her mind and nodding.

Elise said she'd be back and left to get them drinks. Hank sighed and sat back, trying to smile at Maggie to reassure her. If only his son would have listened to him for once… He had told Tommy to stay out of it, but his son was stubborn, always defying him. He had always been like that, almost as if he got pleasure out of it.

Tommy was definitely the rebel of the family, and that's not just coming from his whole robbery stint and spending time in prison. It was just his attitude. Hank and his youngest son never got on very well, he knew that. If he had to have a reason, he imagined that was why he focused more on Sam. Sam he could connect to, easily.

Suddenly Hank frowned as he remembered the little confrontation between him and Tommy at Sam's memorial service. He had said some pretty hurtful things, but his son only took them in stride, not the least bit surprised to be hearing those things coming from his own father. Hank actually said that Tommy could never be like Sam, that he could never make him proud.

Hank flinched as he recalled telling Tommy that no one would stand up for him when he died. But ever since that day, Tommy had proved Hank wrong. Hank finally watched his youngest son and realized that despite not being his brother, Tommy was a good man in his own way. Tommy had surprised him by rebuilding the kitchen with his own hands, with only three other guys to help him.

He took care of Grace, Isabelle, and Maggie in his brother's absence. He stepped up and took responsibility, something Hank doubted the young man capable of. Hank adjusted in his seat, uncomfortable at how easily horrible he had been to Tommy. He went through the accusations Tommy threw at him and figured his son was probably right.

Hank admits he was never one to deal with emotions very well, opting to ignore them and move on. As he had told Sam, he endured his own battles in war and handled them by treating his sons the way he did. He realizes that was not the best way, but it was the only way he could do it.

While he's proud to have been a Marine and serve his country, Hank never wanted to see what he saw or go through any of it. And he certainly wouldn't wish it on anyone else, much less his own son. He just prayed the damages weren't too great and that Sam could be himself again. And he prayed his other son wouldn't suffer any consequences. And he desperately prayed this wouldn't pull the two brothers apart.

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By the way, Tommy makes it in my version. ;)


End file.
